Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world; probably because it is legal and does not require a prescription. The Captain likes caffeine that in his prime he drank four liters of diet soda on top of a BUN pot of coffee. The first article below is concerned with energy drinks and caffeine’s effects on individuals 19 to 40. The first article, however, does not go into any detail concerning the effects of caffeine per say other than stating it raises blood pressure and heart rate and doctors are concerned with individuals increased intake of these energy drinks. However, the article peaks our interest and leads us to a deeper investigation of just what is in energy drinks. The second article goes more in depth without becoming terribly esoteric. It is a minefield of information on caffeine and energy drinks. This article offers a plethora of hyperlinks designed to inform a lay individual on almost every aspect of caffeine as well as other enzymes contained in the energy drinks.

400 mg is considered a safe dose of caffeine individuals should consume in one day or the equivalent of two and a half 8-ounce cups of coffee. Now who really drinks two and a half cups of coffee a day? That is just for openers. Most people start with a 16-ounce cup and go from there. However, it does give one pause to consider consuming 2.5 g usually sends you to the hospital. What, you may ask, is this the equivalent to in cups of coffee or in cans of energy drinks. It is equivalent to sixteen and a half cups of 8-ounce coffee, seventeen and a quarter 16-ounce cans of energy drinks, or not to be forgotten, 20 to 30 NoDoz pills. About half of that, 1280 mg or 4 l will cause kidney failure in many individuals. It is not very hard to consume 4 l of liquid over a 16-hour period if one sets his mind to it. One can also buy online 100 g of pure powdered caffeine and dispense with the pretense of drinking coffee or energy drinks. According to Emily Newman, “The serving size is 1/16 of a teaspoon, which requires mini-measuring spoons and a scale to measure. Simply mixing two regular spoonfuls of the powder into a drink is the same as drinking 70 Red Bulls at once, which could kill you.” (Newman, E. (2014). Caffeine powder: FAQ. WebMD .) 1 teaspoon equals 0.33 ounces or 4.5 g rounded off.

Energy drinks can shoot your blood pressure abnormally up

Mayo Clinic researchers found that healthy young adults who are not used to caffeine experienced a greater rise in resting blood pressure after consumption of a commercially available energy drink compared to a placebo drink. This could mean that energy drinks may increase the risk of cardiac events. Results of the study were presented on Saturday, March 14, at the American College of Cardiology’s 64th Annual Scientific Session in San Diego.

In this study,25 healthy young adults, age 19 to 40, were given a can of a commercially available energy drink or a placebo drink, and changes in heart rate and blood pressure were assessed. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded before and 30 minutes after energy drink/placebo drink consumption, and were also compared between caffeine-naïve participants (those consuming less than 160 mg of caffeine per day) and regular caffeine users (those consuming more than 160 mg of caffeine per day).Compared to placebo, participants consuming the energy drink experienced a marked rise in blood pressure after consuming it. Researchers also found that the effect was more pronounced in people who did not typically consume much caffeine. They found that overall; the blood pressure increase was more than doubled in caffeine naïve adults after consuming the energy drink vs. placebo.

The consumption of energy drinks has been increasing of late, particularly among young people. There are deepening concerns about the potential negative effects of energy drinks on blood pressure and heart function, particularly in people who do not generally consume caffeine.

Lead author Anna Svatikova, M.D., Ph.D., cardiovascular diseases fellow at the Mayo Clinic, says that her team has proved in prior studies that energy drinks augment resting blood pressure, yet this study calls for the caffeine-naïve to pay careful attention.

Energy Drink Ingredients and What They Do

Energy drink companies are cramming all kinds ingredients into their energy products.

All these strange ingredients and what they supposedly do can be confusing for consumers.

Here is a list of the most common energy drink ingredients and their reported effects on the human body.

Top 5 Energy Ingredients

According to the Innova Market Insights’ Database, these five energy drink ingredients are the most common. The chart below shows the percentage of new energy products in which each ingredient is found.

According to a recent study, caffeine is the only ingredientthat actually works. Participants who drank only caffeinated water had the same brain activity and response times as those consuming 5 Hour Energy, which adds also many of the above ingredients.

Caffeine

Caffeine is the most widely used drug on the planet and has been used for centuries for its stimulating effects. This common stimulant is found naturally in coffee and tea but is also placed in energy drinks and soft drinks by manufacturers.

Most energy drinks contain between 70 and 200mg per can.

An 8oz cup of drip coffee contains 110-150mg

65-125mg/cup of percolated coffee.

40-80 mg for instant coffee.

Dr. Pepper delivers 41mg.

A can of Coke provides 34mg.

A full can of RockStar has 160mg.

Click here to find out how much caffeine in different energy drinks would be deadly.

Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system giving the body a sense of alertness as well as dilates blood vessels. It raises heart rate and blood pressure and dehydrates the body.

People experience side effects above 400mg (the recommended daily safe dose), which include sleeplessness, heart palpitations, headaches, nausea, and most commonly the jitters.

Guarana

Guarana comes from a plant native to South America. Amazonians have used it for a long time to increase alertness and energy.

It’s denser in caffeine than coffee beans:

Guarana is 3-4% caffeine vs. arabica coffee which is 1-2% caffeine.

Guarana is different than “caffeine” because it contains a couple of other related molecules: theobromine and theophylline. They’re also found in different concentrations in coffees, teas, and chocolate.

Some people do respond differently to guarana as compared with regular caffeine, which is commonly used in energy drinks. Some report that guarana provides more alertness, while others believe it doesn’t have as good of a stimulating effect.

The amount of acai in energy drinks is very low and real acai berry juice no doubt tastes nothing like “acai flavored” beverages since usually other fruit juices and flavors are added.

Inositol

Inositol was once considered a B vitamin but has since been removed from this classification because the human body is able to produce its own supply without the need for supplementation.

It is a type of carbohydrate made from the breaking down of glucose.

Energy Drinks include this ingredient because it aids with the nervous system and serotonin modulation. High doses of inositol have also been given to patients with certain psychiatric conditions because of the positive effect on the nervous system.

Inositol is found in many foods such as fruits, beans, grains, and nuts.There are no known side effects from ingesting too much and Inositol is considered safe.

L-Theanine

L-Theanine is an amino acid that according to recent studies has been shown to calm the brain to enhance concentration.

This amino acid comes from tea leaves and Green tea has the highest concentrations.

Tea has been known for centuries for its ability to relax its drinkers and many tea cultures (not the USA), have a tea before bed every night.

Manufacturers began putting it into energy drinks to counteract some of the side effects of caffeine. They claim that it works well with caffeine because it eases the jitteriness that caffeine can cause, but with added concentration enhancement.

Some of the drinks that contain this energy drink ingredient are Sobe Lifewater, Vitamin Water, Vib, Gatorade Tiger Focus, and Reed’s NaturalEnergy Elixir.

Milk Thistle

Milk Thistle, mainly found in Rockstar and a few other energy drinks, is believed to work as a liver detoxifying agent.

It is placed in energy drinks not really for any energy enhancing properties but as a counter agent to mixing energy drinks with alcohol since milk thistle is supposed to help ease hangovers and help the liver detox from alcohol.

However, studies show that the amount put in energy drinks would be of hardly any benefit to the consumer.

Ginkgo Biloba

This ingredient is named after the rare tree it originates from and only in a few energy drinks.

It is believed to help with memory retention, concentration, circulation, and to act as an anti-depressant.

The German government recognizes it as something that helps with memory loss, concentration, and depression.

60mg is a standard supplementation dose, but people can safely take up to 240mg daily.

It is advised, however, that most energy drinks do not contain enough ginkgo to be of any benefit.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence showing that artificial sweeteners cause a whole range of health problems, including cancer. However, scientific based studies have shown them to be safe in the amounts typically found in beverages.

What isn’t clear is the long-term dangers from artificial sweeteners since most studies only looked at short-term dangers.

In some cases when people have adverse reactions to energy drinks they could be allergic or sensitive to one of the above additives. The artificial colorings are particularly troublesome for some as well as the brominated vegetable oil.

The Final Word

While energy drink ingredients such as caffeine have been widely studied, others haven’t and manufacturers are using mainly anecdotal evidence as justification of their use in their beverages or other products.

Consumers should be aware of the ingredients contained in energy drinks and make educated decisions whether or not these beverages are the best choice for their bodies.

DSM-5 Criteria

The official diagnosis can be made when any 5 of the following symptoms are present: restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushed face, diuresis (you keep passing urine), gastrointestinal disturbance (upset tummy, diarrhea), muscle twitching, rambling flow of thought and speech, tachycardia or cardiac arrhythmia, periods of inexhaustibility, or psychomotor agitation.

How to Know If You’ve Overdosed

Most people feel the “jitters” first – a sensation of tremors or shaking.

Dear Hail-Fellows well met, “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is written and edited by your favorite curmudgeons Captain Hank Quinlan and

Flatfoot Willie, Correspondent at Large with fellow Staff Writers

Staff (monkeys in the back room). We offer an ongoing tirade to support or offend anyone of any large dimension, cultural background, religious affiliation, or color of skin. This gazette rails against an eclectic mix of circus ring ne’er do wells, big ring fatty and fatso whiners, congenital idiots, the usual motley assortment of the profoundly dumbfounded, and a favorite of intelligent men everywhere, the

May the Most Venerable H. L. Mencken bless our unworthy but earnest attempts at tongue in cheek jocularity .

All this and more always keeping our major focus on “Why so fat?” Enough said? We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” think so. If you like what you read, and you know whom you are, in this yellow blog, tell your friends. We would be elated with an ever-wider readership. We remain cordially yours, Captain Hank Quinlan and the Monkeys in the back room

“The Fat Bastard Gazette” does not purport to offer any definitive medical or pharmaceutical advice whatsoever in any explicit or implied manner. Always consult a qualified physician in all medical or pharmaceutical matters. “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is only the opinion of informed nonprofessionals for the general edification and entertainment of the greater public.

No similarities to any existing names or characters are expressed or implied. We reserve the right to offend or support anybody, anything, or any sacred totem across the globe.

Homeopathy from the Greek meaning “like+ disease” is nothing more than the carney’s attempt to get one through the door to buy homeopathic medicine. The theory behind homeopathy, an alternative to pharmaceutical medicine, is pure rubbish. Since when does curing an illness work by giving a patient more of the same allergen or pathogen, for that matter, in an extremely dilute mixture, so dilute it fails to elicit the human immune response, by oral route? Some homeopathic medicine is laced with arsenic and alcohol; other homeopathic medication, for instance, an alternative to vaccines is loaded with infectious pus; just a great way to infect one’s child with the very disease one is trying to prevent. A true vaccine is a dead virus,parts of a virus, or an attenuated live virus. An attenuated live virus weakened many times in the lab by growing a strain that does not reproduce very well, when exposed to the human body elicits the immune response, which is stronger than the pathogen developing more antibodies killing the pathogen, which in turn develops a strong resistance to it.

Scientists have gathered once again to debunk the practice of homeopathy and homeopathic remedies as a great service to the numbers of Booboisie. Not only have scientists decried homeopathy’s lack of scientific evidence as to its efficacy, but most alternative medicine as well. Certain sects of the medical community should be chastened for embracing more dubious alternative medical practices. Certain sects in the nursing community should be chastised for practicing aromatherapy, touch therapy, visual imaging etc. as a viable alternative to sound nursing practice. To legitimatize alternative medicine by an MD as a viable method for treating illness is most lamentable with the exceptions of acupuncture, which has been shown empirically by the Chinese doctors to be of legitimate use in place of chemical anesthetics. In addition, herbal remedies while analogous to many synthetic pharmaceutical remedies lack the rigid standards by which the pharmaceutical industry is held accountable to.

One nasty little secret about collusion of the sugar industry, health organizations, and the NIH during the sixties seventies has become known. Showing once again the dangers of listening too well to special interest groups as well as the temptation from suggestions of under the table payoffs, which the public may never know about in this instance. Not to mention bad policies, disservice it does to the public interest, and diversion of public and private funds. According to Healthline.com, bad policy set back good oral hygiene policy 40 years.

Dear Hail-Fellows well met, “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is written and edited by your favorite curmudgeons Captain Hank Quinlan and

Flatfoot Willie, Correspondent at Large with fellow Staff Writers

Staff (monkeys in the back room). We offer an ongoing tirade to support or offend anyone of any large dimension, cultural background, religious affiliation, or color of skin. This gazette rails against an eclectic mix of circus ring ne’er do wells, big ring fatty and fatso whiners, congenital idiots, the usual motley assortment of the profoundly dumbfounded, and a favorite of intelligent men everywhere, the

May the Most Venerable H. L. Mencken bless our unworthy but earnest attempts at tongue in cheek jocularity .

All this and more always keeping our major focus on “Why so fat?” Enough said? We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” think so. If you like what you read, and you know whom you are, in this yellow blog, tell your friends. We would be elated with an ever-wider readership. We remain cordially yours, Captain Hank Quinlan and the Monkeys in the back room

“The Fat Bastard Gazette” does not purport to offer any definitive medical or pharmaceutical advice whatsoever in any explicit or implied manner. Always consult a qualified physician in all medical or pharmaceutical matters. “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is only the opinion of informed nonprofessionals for the general edification and entertainment of the greater public.

No similarities to any existing names or characters are expressed or implied. We reserve the right to offend or support anybody, anything, or any sacred totem across the globe.

This blog cannot get away from circus performers. This issue’s featured circus clown is one ex-fatty Catherine Weingarten. She hails from somewhere in the United Kingdom and she is on a mission to give Facebook its comeuppance. She takes umbrage at Facebook’s fat man emoji. With total gay abandon, this clown relates to us her Mein Kampf (My Struggle) with weight-loss. She goes on to say how demeaning it is to make a light of her and her kind of such a life and death situation. Her struggle is one of skipped meals and time spent in front of the mirror quaking in fear at the amorphous blob of a reflection. While we all applaud her, efforts at slimming down, we look askance at the exuberance she displays wallowing in self-pity.

Sigmund Freud

Our rabble rousing circus clown is shaking the bush, by having started a petition to end Facebook’s emoticon. Moreover, by the look of it, she has 15,000 supporters already, what a number! This clown “knows what it’s like to feel fat” and wants to ram it down everybody else’s throats as well.

Our intrepid young woman and her petition signers would be better served in the psychiatrist’s chair rather than managing a petition for political correctness. Remember evil doers and fat shamers ‘fat is not a feeling’.

CHANTIX is in the news. It seems taking this medication with alcohol may cause blackouts or cause you to hit your neighbor over the head with a bar stool. How long will it take the Booboisie to realize that drinking alcohol with any medication usually has serious side effects? Moreover, how long will it take the Booboisie to learn how to read the package insert or the back of the box or package for that matter? Small type is no excuse; get reading glasses or a magnifying glass. If you are too lazy to read the package insert, go to the Internet’s web sites there is plenty of information to be gleaned. The Captain and staff would really like to know why the patient did not ask the Dr. about the drug and its side effects before leaving the office with the prescription in the first place. The Dr. does not read minds. It is the patients’ responsibility to get all the information in order to make an informed choice. The following is a brief list found on the Internet about what to tell the Dr. before he writes the script.

“Before taking this medicine to make sure you can safely take CHANTIX, tell your doctor if you have any of these other conditions:

a history of depression or mental illness;

kidney disease (or if you are on dialysis);

heart disease, circulation problems; or

if you drink alcohol. (Bold, underline author’s)

FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether CHANTIX will harm an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant while using this medicine.”

Well, well, well, is not this a revelation “if you drink alcohol.” Even if the product was only labeled last year to warn potential users of this side effect, it should be obvious even to the most casual observer in this prescription society, that all drugs have side effects some more than others. What is more, to blame the FDA’s tardiness in disseminating this information after the fact of it being put on the label is sheer balderdash. While the FDA is a regulatory and information agency, it cannot be expected to hold everyone’s hand at once and shoulder the responsibility that informed users should be responsible. This too was found on the Internet, taken directly from the Physicians’ desk reference on patient counseling for patients about to take CHANTIX:

PATIENT COUNSELING

Inform about risks and benefits of treatment. Instruct to set a date to quit smoking and initiate treatment 1 week before quit date. Encourage to continue to attempt to quit even w/ early lapses after quit day. Encourage patients who are motivated to quit and who did not succeed in stopping smoking during prior therapy for reasons other than intolerability due to adverse events, or who relapsed after treatment to make another attempt w/ therapy once factors contributing to the failed attempt have been identified and addressed. Provide educational materials and necessary counseling to support attempt at quitting smoking. Instruct to notify physician if persistent nausea or insomnia develops. Advise to d/c and notify physician if agitation, hostility, depressed mood, or changes in behavior/thinking develop. Advise to notify physician prior to treatment of any history of psychiatric illness. Inform that quitting smoking may be associated w/ nicotine withdrawal symptoms or exacerbation of preexisting psychiatric illness. Advise to inform physician of any history of seizures or other factors that can lower seizure threshold; instruct patient to d/c treatment and contact physician immediately if seizure is experienced. Instruct patient to reduce amount of alcohol they consume while on therapy until they know whether therapy affects their tolerance for alcohol. Advise to use caution when driving or operating machinery until patients know how quitting smoking and/or therapy may affect them. Advise to notify physician if symptoms of new or worsening CV events develop and to seek immediate medical attention if signs/symptoms of a MI or stroke are experienced. Instruct to d/c (discontinue) and seek immediate medical care if angioedema (i.e. swellingthatoccursjustbeneaththesurfaceoftheskinormucous membranes.) or a skin reaction occurs. Inform that vivid, unusual, or strange dreams may occur. If patient is pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, advise about the risks of smoking, the potential risks of therapy, and the benefits of smoking cessation.

Therefore, for this blog’s two cents the FDA is not at fault. The fault lies with either the Dr. or the patient. We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” seriously doubt it is the Dr.

Dear Hail-Fellows well met, “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is written and edited by your favorite curmudgeons Captain Hank Quinlan and

Flatfoot Willie, Correspondent at Large with fellow Staff Writers

Staff (monkeys in the back room). We offer an ongoing tirade to support or offend anyone of any large dimension, cultural background, religious affiliation, or color of skin. This gazette rails against an eclectic mix of circus ring ne’er do wells, big ring fatty and fatso whiners, congenital idiots, the usual motley assortment of the profoundly dumbfounded, and a favorite of intelligent men everywhere, the

May the Most Venerable H. L. Mencken bless our unworthy but earnest attempts at tongue in cheek jocularity .

All this and more always keeping our major focus on “Why so fat?” Enough said? We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” think so. If you like what you read, and you know whom you are, in this yellow blog, tell your friends. We would be elated with an ever-wider readership. We remain cordially yours, Captain Hank Quinlan and the Monkeys in the back room

“The Fat Bastard Gazette” does not purport to offer any definitive medical or pharmaceutical advice whatsoever in any explicit or implied manner. Always consult a qualified physician in all medical or pharmaceutical matters. “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is only the opinion of informed nonprofessionals for the general edification and entertainment of the greater public.

No similarities to any existing names or characters are expressed or implied. We reserve the right to offend or support anybody, anything, or any sacred totem across the globe.

It is soon going to be the Summer of Love Revisited, the smell of oxytocin, coming to a pharmacy near you, is in the air. Moreover, quite possibly a new baby boom if the effects of oxytocin on men are to be believed. Men could even breastfeed given a sufficient quantity of oxytocin taking some of the work off the women’s shoulders. Not to mention more cuddle time with hubby. With all that empathy going on labor pains can be shared if not physically, mentally. Life gets curiouser and curiouser. As if not all these bons sentiments, (good feelings) are enough, oxytocin taken before meals three times a day can reduce your caloric intake by a whopping 122 calories in addition to 80 calories from fat. Is not this worth all the trouble? In addition, as an extra bonus the fee for taking this oxytocin based, they say, on European costs would be about $275 a month. What a monumental bust this is. Oxytocin is better marketed as a male tranquilizer then weight-loss product. Everything comes full circle. If you are going to use a drug for weight loss, nothing beats the amphetamines for efficacy and price. Nevertheless, remember as soon as you go off the drug your weight will most probably return and then some.

Timothy Leary and Neal Cassady (right)

Oh happy daze, the word is out, acid and shrooms are less harmful than alcohol and other controlled substances. Combine one of these two drugs with oxytocin and you have a good trip. Old Richard Nixon gave LSD and psilocybin a bad rap back in the day. As paranoid as he was, he probably took some bad LSD and cried sour grapes.

Study, Oxytocin May Reduce Appetite, Making it a Safe and Highly Effective Weight Loss Tool

March 8, 2015

The new study tried a manufactured nasal formulation of oxytocin, and discovered the hormone treatment lessened the quantity of calories that men consumed, particularly calories from greasy foods.

The hormone oxytocin is connected to numerous exercises that bond individuals together, including sex, embracing, kissing, holding hands, and conceiving an offspring and breast feeding. In pharmaceutical, its utilized to induce labor, oversee bleeding in moms after conception and urge out breast milk in nursing women, Lawson said.

The analysts launched their study into oxytocin’s potential effects for consuming because research in animals has proposed that the hormone helps the body regulate body intake, she said. “Not much is known about oxytocin effects on appetite and food consumption in humans,” Lawson added.

In the new study, the scientists randomly appointed 25 men (12 of whom were overweight or obese) to either take synthetic oxytocin by means of nasal spread or an inactive placebo. The men did not know which spray they were given. The average age of the participants was 27, as per the study.

After taking either the hormone or placebo, the men requested breakfast from a menu. They were given twofold segments of whatever they requested. Toward the end of the meal, the specialists measured the amount of food consumed.

The men later returned and did the examination once more, yet this time they got the placebo in the event that they’d taken oxytocin the past time, or the reverse.

The individuals who took the oxytocin consumed 122 less calories, on average, the study found.They additionally ate less fatty food — around 9 less fat grams on average. That means around 80 less calories from fatty food.

Lawson said it’s not clear from this study how oxytocin influences the appetite.

Furthermore, there are a few admonitions to the study. The specialists didn’t think about if the men who consumed less were hungrier later, and ladies were excluded, so there’s no real way to know how they may be influenced.

While the men who took oxytocin didn’t have more side effects than the other men, “potential side effects with intranasal oxytocin include uterine contractions in pregnant women and, rarely, nausea, headache or allergic dermatitis,” Lawson said.

The nasal spray is affirmed for utilization in Europe, yet not in the United States. If utilized preceding meals three times each day, the expense of the medication — based on European costs — would be about $275 a month, Lawson said.

The study is little, and still ahead of schedule in the examination procedure, noted Paul Zak, founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.

Still, he sees potential. “From an evolutionary perspective, oxytocin is released during positive social interactions — when we are around others who care about us. This is just when food sharing is likely to occur. If we want to lose weight, having others around us who care about us can help reduce appetite,” he suggested.

Latest studies have revealed that use of psychedelic drugs does not increase the risk of mental health problems. The study involved analysis of data from 135,000 randomly selected participants – including 19,000 people who had used drugs such as LSD and magic mushrooms.

The study showed that use of these Psychedelic drugs does not reveal any increased risk of developing mental health ailments later on in life.

Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim had also conducted a study earlier and had conducted population study investigating associations between mental health and psychedelic use. The study involved analysis of data in between 2001 to 2004.

Author and clinical psychologist Pal-orjan Johansen says, “Over 30 million US adults have tried psychedelics and there just is not much evidence of health problems.”

Co-author and neuroscientist Teri Krebs feels, “Drug experts consistently rank LSD and psilocybin mushrooms as much less harmful to the individual user and to society compared to alcohol and other controlled substances.”

The study envisaged the study of data obtained from the US National Health Survey (2008-2011) consisting of 135,095 randomly selected adults from the US, including 19,299 users of psychedelic drugs.

The researchers did not find any link between the use of psychedelic drugs like LSD and magic mushrooms and symptoms of mental illness like psychological distress, depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts.

However Johansen was quick to acknowledge the pitfalls of such studies and therefore considering the design and the mode of the study the researchers cannot rule out the negative effects of such drugs on certain individuals.

Johansen said, the researchers cannot “exclude the possibility that use of psychedelics might have a negative effect on mental health for some individuals or groups, perhaps counterbalanced at a population level by a positive effect on mental health in others.”

The details of the study are published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Who Were the Merry Pranksters?

Ken Kesey, leader of the Merry Pranksters, was arrested for marijuana possession.

The original Merry Pranksters patterned their lifestyles on the experiences in Jack Kerouac’s novel On The Road

Poets and writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg defied mainstream society by publishing jazz-influenced works, often laced with drug references and obscene language. During the late 1950s, author Ken Kesey and several of his friends living in a Bohemian section of Stanford, California formed a loose alliance called the Merry Pranksters. The original Merry Pranksters patterned their lifestyles after the New York-based beatnik culture, especially the On the Road experiences of Jack Kerouac.

Around 1960, Ken Kesey volunteered for a series of medical experiments involving various psychedelic drugs, such as mescaline, peyote, morning glory seeds and most significantly, LSD. Kesey smuggled many of these substances back to the other Merry Pranksters, who later discovered legal methods for importing peyote from Mexico. Meanwhile, Kesey himself became a successful novelist with the publication of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes a Great Notion. Fueled by their mind-expanding drug experiences, the Merry Pranksters began to form grandiose ideas about turning on the rest of the country’s youth to LSD and other psychedelic drugs.

In 1964, Ken Kesey wanted to visit the New York City beatnik scene at the same time his novelSometimes a Great Notion would be published. To accomplish this cross-country trip, the Merry Pranksters bought a retired school bus and completely refurbished it. Inspired by the pop art of Andy Warhol and the comic book style of Roy Lichtenstein, the Merry Pranksters created numerous Day-Glo murals on both the interior and exterior walls. The bus also contained a number of film cameras and microphones, which the Merry Pranksters used to record nearly every second of their trip. Ken Kesey named the bus Further, perhaps referring to the mind-expanding effects of LSD.

The bus was driven primarily by Neal Cassady, a legendary counterculture figure made famous through Jack Kerouac’s writings. The plan was to drive around the United States with a large supply of LSD and other drugs. Visitors would be encouraged to ingest drug-laced juices and join the Merry Pranksters in street theater pranks or other improvised events. Since LSD was considered legal until 1966, law enforcement officers could not seize the bus or arrest its occupants for drug possession. This cross-country trip culminated in a fateful meeting with Jack Kerouac and several other Beat Generation leaders. Kerouac did not embrace the new counterculture generation, since many of their experiences were fueled by harder drugs than marijuana or alcohol.

After returning to California, the Merry Pranksters sponsored a series of parties designed to introduce LSD and other hallucinogens to the burgeoning hippie movement. These events were informally called Acid Tests, with signs asking “Can YOU pass the test?” The venues were painted in Day-Glo colors and featured the psychedelic artwork often associated with the Haight-Asbury hippie culture. Local bands were often hired to provide background music for the participants, with psychedelia-inspired names such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and the Doors.

After LSD became illegal in 1966, the Merry Pranksters suffered a tremendous blow. Fearing a lengthy prison sentence for drug possession charges, Ken Kesey faked a suicide attempt and fled to Mexico. The other Merry Pranksters soon went their separate ways as well. In 1968, Neal Cassady was found dead near some railroad tracks in Mexico.

Ken Kesey was eventually arrested for a relatively minor marijuana possession and given a six month sentence. The bus called Further was moved to Kesey’s home state of Oregon for safekeeping. Several Merry Pranksters have died since the 1960s, but Kesey continued to organize a series of reunions until his death from liver cancer surgery complications in 2001.

Dear Hail-Fellows well met, “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is written and edited by your favorite curmudgeons Captain Hank Quinlan and

Flatfoot Willie, Correspondent at Large with fellow Staff Writers

Staff (monkeys in the back room). We offer an ongoing tirade to support or offend anyone of any large dimension, cultural background, religious affiliation, or color of skin. This gazette rails against an eclectic mix of circus ring ne’er do wells, big ring fatty and fatso whiners, congenital idiots, the usual motley assortment of the profoundly dumbfounded, and a favorite of intelligent men everywhere, the

May the Most Venerable H. L. Mencken bless our unworthy but earnest attempts at tongue in cheek jocularity .

All this and more always keeping our major focus on “Why so fat?” Enough said? We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” think so. If you like what you read, and you know whom you are, in this yellow blog, tell your friends. We would be elated with an ever-wider readership. We remain cordially yours, Captain Hank Quinlan and the Monkeys in the back room

“The Fat Bastard Gazette” does not purport to offer any definitive medical or pharmaceutical advice whatsoever in any explicit or implied manner. Always consult a qualified physician in all medical or pharmaceutical matters. “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is only the opinion of informed nonprofessionals for the general edification and entertainment of the greater public.

No similarities to any existing names or characters are expressed or implied. We reserve the right to offend or support anybody, anything, or any sacred totem across the globe.

Like this:

Horribile dictu (horrible to relate), men are more narcissistic than women are. How long has this fact been hidden under the bushel basket. Men are masters of the race therefore; women should be subservient to men. Men may bend the rules of decorum in any manner and at any time they see fit to their purpose. Men must remain dominant in omnibusrebus (in all affairs). The first article below reads like an article out of the 1950s. What is new in women’s struggle with men’s entitlement? Just read the bible as an example of women made or told to be subservient to men. It took this long for the wonks in ivory towers to come to any definitive consensus! The Captain and staff are flummoxed why this article ever made it to press.

The second article deals with the Mediterranean diet study and of course, the Mediterranean diet wins. “Among the study’s participants, adherence to the Mediterranean diet was more protective than physical activity.” However, take this with the proverbial grain of salt, flabby muscles especially the heart muscle does the body no good either. Exercise must still be included with diets. It is obvious a healthful diet will promote good cardiovascular health related to cleaner arterial walls especially around the smaller coronary arteries. However, everything we eat has calories and these calories must be burned through activity. This cannot be stressed and enough.

Men are more narcissistic because ‘women often receive harsh criticism for being aggressive or authoritative’, study shows

The 31-year University at Buffalo study looked at three aspects of narcissism and analyzed data from more than 475,000 people

Men tend to be more narcissistic than women and as a result are more likely to exploit others, a study said Thursday after analyzing three decades of data from more than 475,000 people.

The findings were consistent across multiple age groups and generations, said the University at Buffalo School of Management, pointing out that narcissism has good and bad points.

The researchers examined more than 355 journal articles, dissertations, manuscripts and technical manuals, and studied gender differences in the three aspects of narcissism: leadership/authority, grandiose/exhibitionism and entitlement.

University at Buffalo researchers found looked at three aspects of narcissism: leadership/authority, grandiose/exhibitionism and entitlement. The widest gap between genders was in entitlement

Over the course of their 31-year study they found the widest gap in entitlement, suggesting that men are more likely than women to exploit others and feel entitled to certain privileges.

‘Narcissism is associated with various interpersonal dysfunctions, including an inability to maintain healthy long-term relationships, unethical behavior and aggression,’ said lead author Emily Grijalva, assistant professor of organization and human resources in the UB School of Management.

‘At the same time, narcissism is shown to boost self-esteem, emotional stability and the tendency to emerge as a leader,’ she added.

The study looked at unattractive qualities, including manipulative, self-absorption, aggression and arrogance, according to the Washington Post.

RELATED ARTICLES

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

It also looked at how people responded to statements including ‘I know that I am good because everyone keeps telling me so’.

The study did note, however, that neither gender has gotten more narcissistic over time.

Narcissism can emerge out of gender stereotypes and expectations, according to a University at Buffalo news release.

‘Individuals tend to observe and learn gender roles from a young age, and may face backlash for deviating from society’s expectations,’ Grijalva says. ‘In particular, women often receive harsh criticism for being aggressive or authoritative, which creates pressure for women, more so than for men, to suppress displays of narcissistic behavior.’

Diet Can Cut Heart Risk by Almost Half

Thu, 03/05/2015 – 7:00am

American College of Cardiology

Greek salad. Image: Jpatokal, Wikimedia

Adults who closely followed the Mediterranean diet were 47 percent less likely to develop heart disease over a 10-year period compared to similar adults who did not closely follow the diet, according to a study to be presented at the American College of Cardiology‘s 64th Annual Scientific Session in San Diego.Among the study’s participants, adherence to the Mediterranean diet was more protective than physical activity. The study, conducted in Greece, bolsters evidence from earlier studies pointing to the diet’s health benefits and is the first to track 10-year heart disease risk in a general population. Most previous studies have focused on middle-aged people.

“Our study shows that the Mediterranean diet is a beneficial intervention for all types of people — in both genders, in all age groups, and in both healthy people and those with health conditions,” said Ekavi Georgousopoulou, a Ph.D. candidate at Harokopio Univ. in Athens, Greece, who conducted the study along with Demosthenes Panagiotakos, professor at Harokopio Univ. “It also reveals that the Mediterranean diet has direct benefits for heart health, in addition to its indirect benefits in managing diabetes, hypertension and inflammation.”

The study is based on data from a representative sample of more than 2,500 Greek adults, ages 18 to 89, who provided researchers with their health information each year from 2001 to 2012. Participants also completed in-depth surveys about their medical records, lifestyle and dietary habits at the start of the study, after five years and after 10 years.

Overall, nearly 20 percent of the men and 12 percent of the women who participated in the study developed or died from heart disease, a suite of conditions that includes stroke, coronary heart disease caused by the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries, acute coronary syndromes such as heart attack, and other diseases. Other studies have shown Greeks and Americans have similar rates of heart disease and its risk factors.

The researchers scored participants’ diets on a scale from one to 55 based on their self-reported frequency and level of intake for 11 food groups. Those who scored in the top-third in terms of adherence to the Mediterranean diet, indicating they closely followed the diet, were 47 percent less likely to develop heart disease over the 10-year follow-up period as compared to participants who scored in the bottom-third, indicating they did not closely follow the diet. Each one-point increase in the dietary score was associated with a 3 percent drop in heart disease risk.

This difference was independent of other heart disease risk factors including age, gender, family history, education level, body mass index, smoking habits, hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, all of which the researchers adjusted for in their analysis.

The analysis also confirmed results of previous studies indicating that male gender, older age, diabetes and high C-reactive protein levels, a measure of inflammation, are associated with an increased risk for heart disease.

While there is no set Mediterranean diet, it commonly emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, fish, olive oil and even a glass of red wine. Earlier research has shown that following the traditional Mediterranean diet is linked to weight loss, reduced risk of diabetes, lower blood pressure and lower blood cholesterol levels, in addition to reduced risk of heart disease.

“Because the Mediterranean diet is based on food groups that are quite common or easy to find, people around the world could easily adopt this dietary pattern and help protect themselves against heart disease with very little cost,” Georgousopoulou said.

Among study participants, women tended to follow the Mediterranean diet more closely than did men. Despite the fact that Greece is the cradle of the Mediterranean diet, urbanization has led many Greeks to adopt a more Western diet over the past four decades, he said.

The study was limited to participants living in and around Athens, Greece, so the sample does not necessarily reflect the health conditions or dietary patterns of people in more rural areas or the rest of the world. However, previous studies have also linked the Mediterranean diet with reduced cardiovascular risks, including the Nurses’ Health Study, which included nearly 75,000 American nurses who were tracked over a 30-year period. Additional studies in other adult populations would further advance understanding of the diet’s influence on heart disease risk.

The study, “Adherence to Mediterranean is the Most Important Protector Against the Development of Fatal and Non-Fatal Cardiovascular Event: 10-Year Follow-up (2002-12) Of the Attica Study,” will be presented on March 15.

Dear Hail-Fellows well met, “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is written and edited by your favorite curmudgeons Captain Hank Quinlan and

Flatfoot Willie, Correspondent at Large with fellow Staff Writers

Staff (monkeys in the back room). We offer an ongoing tirade to support or offend anyone of any large dimension, cultural background, religious affiliation, or color of skin. This gazette rails against an eclectic mix of circus ring ne’er do wells, big ring fatty and fatso whiners, congenital idiots, the usual motley assortment of the profoundly dumbfounded, and a favorite of intelligent men everywhere, the

May the Most Venerable H. L. Mencken bless our unworthy but earnest attempts at tongue in cheek jocularity .

All this and more always keeping our major focus on “Why so fat?” Enough said? We at “The Fat Bastard Gazette” think so. If you like what you read, and you know whom you are, in this yellow blog, tell your friends. We would be elated with an ever-wider readership. We remain cordially yours, Captain Hank Quinlan and the Monkeys in the back room

“The Fat Bastard Gazette” does not purport to offer any definitive medical or pharmaceutical advice whatsoever in any explicit or implied manner. Always consult a qualified physician in all medical or pharmaceutical matters. “The Fat Bastard Gazette” is only the opinion of informed nonprofessionals for the general edification and entertainment of the greater public.

No similarities to any existing names or characters are expressed or implied. We reserve the right to offend or support anybody, anything, or any sacred totem across the globe.